1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to controller within an automated immunoassay analyzer used to manage the multipath flow of test samples through an automated immunoassay analyzer, and, more particularly to automatically accept, identify, schedule, allocate resources, and measure test samples so as to maximize the throughput of the automated immunoassay analyzer.
2. Background Description
Automated immunoassay analyzers are being manufactured that allow a computer controlled system to analyze the amount of analyte in a sample such as blood, plasma or urine. To quantify the results, the sample is subjected to a myriad of complex processes that may include sample dilution, adding reagents, incubating, agitating, washing and reading of the sample. Reading of the sample is performed using a detection mechanism (e.g., chemiluminescent) that measures the intensity of the light and calculates the related value of the analyte. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,530; U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,529; U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,092; U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,141; U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,399; U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,748; U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,726; U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,309; U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,845; U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,240; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,242; all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Automated immunoassay analyzers have traditionally performed testing of samples in a serial manner. For example, a sample is presented to the analyzer and it progresses step by step through the various processes until completion. While this first sample is progressing through the analyzer, all other samples follow. That is, there is a single path through currently available analyzers. This means the tests must be performed in a serial fashion on a first come first serve basis, see for example, Babson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,530) which is herein incorporated by reference.
Furthermore, throughput of immunoassay analyzers can be impacted by the access to samples for test. Automating the loading and unloading of the samples reduces the amount of operator attention necessary to complete the testing. The more samples that can be stored, loaded, tested, and unloaded from the analyzer without operator intervention, the more efficient the instrument can be.
Duration of individual tests are not consistent for each of the different types of tests that can be performed. Some samples need to be diluted before the reagent is added. Other tests require two different reagents, and still other tests need longer incubation times. To progress these tests on a serial immunoassay analyzer, the best throughput is predicated on the time duration of the longest test in the system. This can significantly impact the throughput of other less time consuming tests.
Furthermore, interruption of a test schedule to insert higher priority tests requires tests in processes to be halted and the higher priority tests to be loaded and run. This requires both significant operator intervention and adversely effects the tests currently being performed in that they may be destroyed or the results compromised.